Junior lawyers revive campaign for trainee minimum salary

Junior lawyers, with support from the Law Society, have announced that they will focus once again on the campaign for a minimum trainee salary.

The regulatory minimum of £18,590 per year for training contracts based in central London (and £16,650 for those outside London) was abandoned by the Solicitors Regulation Authority board in August 2014. The Junior Lawyers Division (JLD) had previously argued that the abolition would have a significant negative impact on diversity in the profession. As reported by the Law Society Gazette, the renewed campaign was announced by Max Harris, chair of the JLD, at this month’s annual dinner. The JLD is working with the Law Society to issue a recommended minimum salary in July, although this would not be enforceable.

Harris highlighted the problem of repaying high costs of the Legal Practice Course for those breaking into the law sector: "The national minimum wage does not take these repayments into account. This causes great difficulties from a social mobility perspective, with individuals who are unable to rely on parenting support being stifled (at least in part) from entering the profession."